AN old soldier aged 90 who was wounded on D-Day says he has been left with just £10 a week war pension after his council took the rest to pay his care home bills.

Hero Fred Cannon said it “stinks” after claiming £95 of the £105 he receives a week is raided.

His plight was branded an outrage last night as campaigners and charities for the elderly united to condemn the practice by local authorities.

They say that members of the Armed Forces injured in conflicts since 2005 have their social care costs paid in full.

But 88 per cent of councils take the military compensation of veterans injured before that date to cover care bills.

Royal British Legion director general Chris Simpkins said: “It is unfair that war pensioners like Fred are treated less favourably than veterans injured since 2005 – and that their compensation is seen as normal income in means tests for social care.

“Civilian compensation is not treated in this way.

“This goes against the Armed Forces Covenant.

“It states there should be ‘no disadvantage (by comparison with civilians) due to Service’.

“Nearly all councils disregard war pensions for council tax ­support, which shows politicians recognise military compensation should not be viewed as income.

SWNS

Fred, who was badly wounded on D-Day, celebrates his 90th birthday surrounded by his family in Dartf

It is unfair that war pensioners like Fred are treated less favourably than veterans injured since 2005

Chris Simpkins

“The Legion is campaigning for all injured veterans to retain the compensation that is rightfully theirs.”

The payment in question is the War Disablement Pension, given to veterans injured in service on or before April 5 2005.

A veteran injured on or after April 6 2005 receives a different pay-out, through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme – and keeps it all.

A spokesman for the charity Help For Heroes said: “We have no idea why the 2005 date was chosen. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. I would urge Mr Cannon to get in touch with us so we can help him. He certainly qualifies for it.”

Mr Cannon was 19 when he stormed Gold Beach in ­Normandy on June 6 1944.

Several bones in his leg were shattered when he was shot and he was the only survivor from his platoon of the Essex Regiment. He lay on the beach alone for two days until he was rescued and spent a year in hospital.

He later worked as a docker but has needed skin grafts and has one leg shorter than the other, which caused permanent damage to his back.

Great-grandfather Fred now lives in a care home in Dartford, Kent. He said: “I think it stinks. I’ve got injuries, and they want to take it away from me.”

His daughter-in-law Linda Cannon, 55, described his situation as a “postcode lottery”.

Teacher Mrs Cannon said: “I understand his care needs to be paid for. But the war pension is compensation for how he ­suffered fighting for our country.

“Everyone in his position deserves to keep their pension.”

A Kent County Council spokesperson said: "We follow Government guidance when assessing people who receive war pensions and need social care.

"This includes the ability to exercise discretion based on individual circumstances.

"While we cannot comment in detail on Mr Fred Cannon's circumstances, following representation by his family the council has exercised significant discretion in his case, with effect from January 2014.

"The claim that he is left with just £10 a week from his war pension is incorrect."

A Government spokesman said it was working with the Royal British Legion on the way war pensions are assessed in relation to care costs.

THE plight of proud Fred Cannon is a vivid illustration of the shameful state of this country’s social care provision.

To strip away the military pension of a man who has been injured on active service in defence of our nation is an outrage.

We owe people like Mr Cannon a lifelong duty of care.

It is hard to believe he is being left without enough income to pay for transport to go out to eat, or to have a holiday with his family. People like him should not be subjected to such means-testing – especially not to determine how to pay for their basic care.

He fought and suffered for our freedoms and we must never forget that. Leaving cash-strapped councils to fund social care is causing enormous distress to families across the country. The system is lumbering from crisis to crisis. Meanwhile funding keeps being cut back.

The next government must make getting to grips with the failings of social care a national priority. With an ageing population, the need for care will keep rising. But there is currently no money set aside, either publicly or privately, to meet these costs.

If Mr Cannon qualified for NHS funding, he would have all his care for free. But because he needs a different type of care and lives in a particular part of the country – a part where his council insists on taking away his pension – he is being treated shabbily.

It is utterly wrong to allow different councils to impose different conditions. It leaves people facing a postcode lottery of the worst kind.

I believe every council should have a duty to take care of any injured former service personnel, without taking away their military pensions.

And ideally we should ensure that all such veterans are looked after for life – whether or not their injuries occurred q before 2005.